FAQ
For copyright issues, see the very bottom of this page.
What is The Franciscan Archive?
The Franciscan Archive is a WWW site dedicated to all things Franciscan. First appearing on the WWW on February, 2, 1997, The Franciscan Archive both maintains an index of all URLs currently active, which in any way pertain to St. Francis, the religious orders he founded, Franciscan Saints, Spirituality, History, Art, Architecture, Theology, etc., and provides a place for the publication of original texts, translations, and articles on Franciscanism.
New publications by The Franciscan Archive can be found at Whatsnew. The long term project of the Franciscan Archive is the publication of a critical English translation of St. Bonaventure's Commentaria in Quatuor Libros Sententiarum and the accompanying articles of Master Peter Lombard's work.
For more on what The Franciscan Archive is all about go here.
Who Links to the Franciscan Archive?
The Franciscan Archive is linked to by Clerus.org: The Official On-Line Study site of the Congregation for the Clergy at the Vatican, which publishes a reprint of The Franciscan Archive’s English translation of St. Bonaventure’s Itinerarium in Mentis Deum, which is also available in print as one of our publications (after clicking scroll down).
The Franciscan Archive is linked to my all major search engines, and has received links from major sites of the Order in Europe and in the English speaking world, among which are the OFM Conventuals Primary Site, Rome, Italy, The Porziuncula at Assisi, The Third Order Regular Primary Site, the Studium Biblicum OFM, Hong Kong, and the Commission on the Franciscan Intellectual Tradition. The Franciscan Archive also receives a link from :the SFO: Five Franciscan Martyrs Region & Divine Mercy Secular Franciscan Fraternity; OFM Conv.: St. Bonaventure Province, SFO: St. Francis Fraternity, Hackensack, NJ, SFO: Our Lady of the Angels Region, NJ, The Sisters of St. Francis, OFM: Poland, SFO: Hungary, OFM: Japan, OFM Conv: Netherlands, OFM: Slovakia, OFM: Provincia Tridentina di S. Vigilio, Italia, OFM Conv.: Malta, OFM: Brazil, OFM Cap.: Mid America, Padre Pio Prayer Groups, USA, OFM Conv: Philippines, OFM: Valencia, Spain; OFM Cap: Uruguay.
In addition The Franciscan Archive is recognized by members of institutions of higher education the world over, among which it receives links from those at Oxford University, U.K, the Sorbonne, France, The Ecole Normal Supérieure, Lyon, France, l'Université Pierre et Marie Curie: Paris, France, The Université Libre des Burxelles, Belgium, the European University Institute, Florence, Italy, the University of Osnabrueck, Germany, the University of Leiden, Netherlands, the Università degli Studi di Parma, Italy, the Università “G. d’Annunzio”, Chiete e Pescara, Italy, the Università degli Studi di Firenze, Italy, Università di Siena - Facoltà di lettere e filosofia, Università Ca’ Foscari, Venezia, Itay, The Thomas Institute of Utrecht, Netherlands, the National Library of the Netherlands, the Stephan Kuttner Institute of Medieval Canon Law: Munich, Germany, the University of Dresden, Germany, the University of Applied Sciences: Augsburg, Germany, Universitätsbibliothek Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Rheinische Friedrick-Wilhelms-Universitate: Bonn, Germany, the University of Regensburg, Germany, the Europäische Melanchthon-Akademie Bretten, the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the University of Vienna: Institute for Dogmatic Theology: Catholic Faculty, Austria, the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, the Universidad de Almeria, Spain, the Univ. of Bucharest, Romania, the Lunds Universitet, Sweden, the University of Toronto, Canada, and in the USA: the Friedsam Memorial Library at the University of St. Bonaventure, Fordham University, the University of Northern Colorado, the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology: Wabash University, Villa I Tatti: The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies, the University of California: Santa Barbara, the University of Kansas: Lawrence, Perdue University, the University of Georgetown, Duquesne University, the College of St. Benedict: St. John University, Georgia College & State University, Stanford University, City University of New York: College of Staten Island, Oberlin College, Skidmore College, University of Delaware, St. Mary’s College (Notre Dame, Indiana), the University of St. Francis, the Harold B. Lee Library: Brigham Young University, the University of Northern Florida, the University of Central Florida, the Western Washington State University, the Wesley Center for Applied Theology: Northwestern Nazarene University, the George C. Gordon Library: Worcester Polytech Institute, Hampshire College, South Carolina University, Western Kentucky University, University of Wisconsin: Madison; Trinity College, Hartford, CT; Rockhurst University, Kansas City, MO.
Finally, The Franciscan Archive receives links from the Roman Catholic Episcopal Conference of Scotland (Media Office), the Dioceses of Brugge (Belgium), Davenport (Iowa, USA), St. Thomas Aquinas Cathedral, Dioceses of Reno (NV: USA) and Madrid (Spain), The Dominicans of Canada, The Felician Sisters of Chicago, the US Embassies in Germany and Russia, the US Coast Guard Chaplain’s Office, the Historical Text Archive, WWW-VL: History Project -Historische Hilfswissenschaften, Christian Classics Ethereal Library (Calvin College), and Unesco.
Who Visits the Franciscan Archive?
In A. D. 2005, The Franciscan Archive was viewed by more than 270,000 persons, and received approx 1,000,000 hits.
In August, 2006, The Franciscan Archive was visited by Catholics and non-Catholics from many of the Nations of the world: United States, Germany, United Kingdom, Canada, Italy, Australia, Philippines, France, China, Netherlands, Brazil, Poland, India, Spain, Korea, Republic of, Japan, Ireland, Singapore, Belgium, Romania, Mexico, Portugal, Argentina, Czech Republic, Norway, New Zealand, Malaysia, Switzerland, Hungary, Sweden, Russian Federation, Hong Kong, Malta, South Africa, Denmark, Finland, Austria, Greece, Taiwan, Colombia, Turkey, Indonesia, Croatia, Luxembourg, Jordan, Thailand, Israel, Lithuania, Qatar, Chile, Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Peru, United Arab Emirates, Nigeria, Morocco, Ukraine, Uganda, Kenya, Slovakia, Latvia, Yugoslavia, Kuwait, Venezuela, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Brunei Darussalam, Sri Lanka, Barbados, Slovenia, Belarus, Nicaragua, Panama, Ecuador, Egypt, Cote D'Ivoire, Bulgaria, Dominican Republic, Vietnam, Gibraltar, Solomon Islands, Saudi Arabia, Guam, Estonia, Bolivia, Iceland, Trinidad and Tobago, Macau, Tunisia, United Republic of Tanzania, Islamic Republic of Iran, Lebanon, Jamaica, Guatemala, Pakistan, Bahrain, Ghana, Cuba, Georgia, Haiti, Gabon, Nepal, Malawi, Myanmar, Belize, Kazakhstan, Dominica, Seychelles, Virgin Islands, U.S., Oman, Syrian Arab Republic, Eritrea, Benin, Fiji, Republic of Moldova, Algeria, Northern Mariana Islands, Netherlands Antilles, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Uruguay, Senegal, Liechtenstein, Turkmenistan, Bangladesh, Albania, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Lesotho, Sudan, and Guyana.
How can I find a quote from St. Francis?
If you are looking for a quote from St. Francis of Assisi first take a look at St. Francis's writings here. Many quotes attributed to St. Francis are from the Little Flowers of St. Francis. And others are from biographies of St. Francis or from oral legends. The one about Preaching without words is described here. The Peace Prayer of St. Francis, and its story, is found here. And the story of St. Francis, the Child Jesus and the First Christmas Crèche is found here.
How do I find a Franciscan Priest/Brother?
The Franciscan Archive is not an archive in the sense of a database of personal information. But of course any help that you need to find a Franciscan Priest or Brother, living or dead, will be cordially offered.
You should begin your search by finding out whether the individual you are looking for was a member of the OFM, the OFM Conv. or the OFM Cap., or the TOR.; that is, the Order of Friars Minor, the Order of Friars Minor Conventuals, or the Order of Friars Minor Capuchins, or the Third Order Regular of St. Francis. You need to do this first, because the Franciscan Order is divided into several different groups. There are also other Franciscan communities in addition to these four. Once you know which group your individual belonged to, you can contact their international headquarters for more information; or their headquarters in your country. In general, if you are in the same country as the individual is, or used to be; you can go to your local Catholic Parish and ask to use the National Catholic Directory, which is a book containing the addresses and phone numbers of all the religious orders and often even of all the priests and brothers in the country.
How do I submit a URL to The Franciscan Archive?
The Franciscan Archive welcomes URL submissions, and any notifications of inaccurate or outdated links. To do this please contact us by surface mail.
If you would like to submit articles or documents for Publication at The Franciscan Archive please read this explanation of the requirements.
What about the ARCHIVUM FRANCISCANUM HISTORICUM?
The Franciscan Archive is not associated with ARCHIVUM FRANCESCANUM HISTORICUM, the scholarly journal published by the College of St. Bonaventure, Rome, Italy
How can I support The Franciscan Archive?
The Franciscan Archive is supported by benefactors who pay for its domain hosting costs. Those interested can send their donation to
SOSM, Inc.POB 123Mansfield, MA 02048USAPlease indicate in your letter that the amount is to be credited toward the account of franciscan-archive.org 's expenses. And may the Good Lord reward you!
Who is responsible for the Franciscan Archive?
The Franciscan Archive is edited by Br. Alexis Bugnolo, a member of the Militia of the Immaculate. A graduate of the University of Florida (Gainesville: 1986 : B.A. Anthropology and Classical Studies), where he studied Latin under Dr. Shiela K. Dickison, and Our Lady of Grace Seminary (Boston: 1988 : B.A. equiv. in Philosophy), where he first studied philosophy, under Dr. Peter Kreeft. With the generous assistance of some relatives, and the expressed encouragement of his former Bishop, the Most Rev. Sean P. O'Malley, O.F.M. Cap., he puts The Franciscan Archive on the WWW to assist Franciscans and devotees of St. Francis throughout the world to grow in faith, hope, and charity for God and in communion with the legitimate successor of St. Peter.
Br. Bugnolo is a Franciscan brother of private vows. His canonical status is that of a consecrated person of private vows [CIC 1983: canons 1191 ff.] He observes the Regula Bullata of St. Francis, in accord with the Pontifical Decrees of Popes Nicholas III, Clement V, and St. Innocent XI. He is a former member of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate (a Kolbian reform of the O.F.M. Conv.), which is headquartered in Benevento, Italy. It was with the FFI that Bro. Bugnolo studied toward a licentiate in Roman Catholic Theology, ala Sts. Thomas, Bonaventure and Bl. John Duns Scotus. The General Council of the FFI, in July, 1996, gave Br. Bugnolo permission to observe the Rule of St. Francis in the ancient manner outside the order. This form of life was commended by the Congregation for Religious, acting at request of the Secretariat of State, in a letter sent to Br. Bugnolo in 2006. Br. Bugnolo currently resides at Rome, Italy. His Bishop is the Roman Pontiff, Pope Benedict, who gave him tacit permission to live an eremitical life at Rome in 2012. He blogs at franciscanum.wordpress.com and fromrome.wordpress.com, and exffi.wordpress.com, and most recently at